As the talks are ongoing at COP 21 in Paris, states and private investors are already mobilizing themselves for the realization of various objectives. In fact, yesterday the International Solar Alliance for Mission Innovation and Breakthrough Energy Coalition was launched, initiatives aimed at promoting the use of clean technologies, especially in the energy sector.

Led by Indian Prime Minister Narenda Modi and French President François Hollande, the International Solar Alliance is an initiative which aims to support hundreds of countries with a potential for solar energy worldwide. Its main objective is the promotion of cooperation between industrialized countries that have the solar energy development technology and financing capacities, and underdeveloped countries. “There will be more than 1.2 trillion dollars of investment by 2030 as part of the effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. We must ensure that part of these investments to go solar”, Francois Hollande said during the launching.

20 industrialized countries are involved in the Innovation Mission initiative. These countries have pledged to double, within five years, their budget’s share for research and development of green technologies in order to enable their commercialization on a large scale. France, for its part, has already announced that “these additional investments will focus on renewable energy and storage, CO2 capture and storage technologies as well as innovations directed towards a better control of energy utilization and its demand”.

Private investors do not want to be left out of collective effort. US billionaire Bill Gates (picture) has indeed federated around him 26 of his peers as part of a coalition named Energy Breakthrough. His compatriot Mark Zuckergberg, British Richard Branson, the Chinese Jack Ma and the Indian Ratan Tata are some of the great fortunes who committed to “invest in emerging companies that have the potential to create a future of energy with near-zero carbon emission, bringing reliable and affordable energy for all”. With this commitment, these investors intend to support public investments which they believe are too low to meet the challenges currently arising. Though they have not yet revealed the amount of this fund, they promised “an unprecedented contribution of private capital from the countries that joined the initiative.”

Gwladys Johnson